Brian Steffenson

The overall research goal of the Lieberman-Okinow Chair is the sustainable production of healthy cereal crops that can help feed the world. Our specific focus is on the improvement of small grain cereals (wheat, barley, oat, rye, and rice) with genes derived from crop wild relatives. The important traits we investigate for cereal crop improvement include yield, grain quality and nutrition, adaptation, and resistance to various biotic and abiotic stresses.